9 Bengali films that captured India’s freedom struggle

The history of India's freedom movement reckons Bengal as the center of almost every Swadeshi activity. These Bengali revolutionaries have been immortalized in the literature and they inspired a whole new generation of young freedom fighters. With such an enriched history, it's quite natural that Bengali film industry has many movies based on the struggle and sacrifice of these legends. Here is a list of 9 memorable Bengali classics that take us back to the glorious past and reignite patriotism.

Saratchandra Chattopadhyay's political novel 'Pather Dabi' was the main inspiration behind Piyush Bose directed 'Sabyasachi'. The fictional character has been immortalized by Uttam Kumar’s brilliant performance in the titular role. The film deals with a nationalist leader with an unbelievable love for his country, sharp mind and jaw-dropping skill of disguising. The reflection of two legendary figures Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and Rasbihari Bose is clearly visible in ‘Sabyasachi’ and the same comes through the film also.

The celluloid adaptation of Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay's famous novel ‘Devi Chowdhurani’ revolves around a woman belonging to an ordinary, orthodox Bengali family and how she turns into a name feared by the British rulers. The transformation from Prafulla to Devi Chowdhurani was superbly sketched by Suchitra Sen, who breathed life in the titular role.

Inspired by the life of Rishi Aurobindo, it’s a Bengali classic portraying the life of Sri Aurobindo Ghosh beginning from his return to India in 1892 to his life in Pondicherry in 1910. This film shows a detailed narration of his early life, marriage, interaction with Sister Nivedita, contributions in India’s freedom struggle and activities in Jugantar, Alipore bomb blast case, and the subsequent trial.

Based on the life of the legendary figure of Indian freedom movement Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, this Bengali classic narrates the life of young Subhash Bose, his childhood, college days, passing ICS, early political campaigns and police arrest. The film is touted to be one of the most honest works based on the life of Bose.

The lesser known 'Sannyasi Rebellion' of the 18th century forms the base of this film. Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay's 'Anandamath' is regarded as one of the most significant patriotic novels that fueled the national movement. India's national song 'Vande Mataram' was actually taken from this novel, which was once banned by the British rulers. The book was adapted twice in Bengali and Hindi. Directed by Satish Dasgupta, the Bengali version was released in 1951.

'Biyallish' gave a detailed account of India’s restless period of 1942. It was a significant phase in Indian history when both armed and non-violent quit India movement hit back the British emperors firmly. This film is a poignant account of Indian freedom fighters confronting a police officer who represents the autocracy of British Government. Bikash Roy's terrific display as the main antagonist even enraged the audience so much that the actor had feared for his own safety after ‘Biyallish’ was released.

Biplobi Surjo Sen, popularly known as Masterda, created the blueprint of robbing Chattagram armoury and his students subsequently started an armed revolution against the imperialist British rulers. Though the uprising didn’t succeed, the famous incident of student revolution still remains unparalleled in the history of India’s freedom struggle. The movie narrates the story of Masterda and a group of brave young patriots who took part in the revolution.

This movie is a great example of Srijit Mukherjee's ‘treat to watch’ style of filmmaking. The story highlighted a completely different image of the partition of India. A group of prostitutes played by Rituparno Sengupta, Saayoni Ghosh and Sohini Sarkar in this Bengali epic, who refused to leave their brothel for the creation of Radcliffe Line (a boundary demarcation line between India and Pakistan made on 17 August 1947 ). The honest and striking narrative Srijit used earned the film an 'A' certificate. The content he followed, received positive reviews although there were some factual mistakes. Such was the popularity that the renowned director later made this movie in Hindi also as ‘Begum Jaan’ in 2017 where it was Vidya Balan who portrayed the titular role.

This Saswata Chatterjee-starrer Bengali flick became a huge hitever since it came out in2004. Directed by Ravi Ojha, it revolves around a romantic story rooted deeply in an incident of the lead character Ananda’s previous life. Trapped in between two timelines, the story delves into a period when a bunch of youngsters was ready to sacrifice their lives for India’s freedom. Sadly, the treachery of one destroyed their dreams and ended their lives.